The Haunted House
by Mariella1982
Summary: It's my 3rd Pokémon fic! Main pairing: Ash x Gary. I suggest you to read 'Spring Party' and 'Back to Pallet Town' first. They all belong together. Have fun!
1. Chapter 1

Hi all!

Here is the first chapter of my 3rd Pokémon fic. They all belong together, so I suggest that you read 'Spring Party' and 'Back to Pallet Town' first, if you haven't already done so ;)

This story starts one day after the end of 'Back to Pallet Town'

Pairings:

Ash x Gary

Misty x Tracey

Others might show up ;)

…

Ash and Gary didn't show up for breakfast that morning. Delia had knocked at the door of Ash's room at 10a.m., but received no answer. When she tried to enter the room, she found it locked. After that she decided to let them be and that they would come downstairs at some time, at latest when her son became hungry, which normally proved to be on a very regular basis. When the boys finally entered the dining room, it was already 1p.m., lunch time. Delia, Misty and Tracey, who was invited over for lunch by Delia, had just sat down to start eating. Pikachu was sitting on the floor with a new bottle of ketchup. "Good morning!" a really cheerful, but tired looking Ash exclaimed. Gary just smiled at everyone, also looking strangely happy. "I was about time!" Misty stated dryly. "Sorry, guys! We couldn't make it earlier, after having just a few hours of sleep," Gary apologized. They all looked at the two boys in awe. "What do you mean by only a few hours of sleep?" Tracey asked them confused, but just a few seconds later it struck him what Gary was implying and he blushed deeply. Misty looked flushed, too. Only Ash's mother didn't get it, the denseness must run in the family. However, Ash was glad she didn't. "You poor guys couldn't sleep after those events yesterday?" she asked concerned. All the others sweatdropped. "Yeah, it must be connected with the 'events' yesterday." Gary smirked and winked at Ash, who was now deeply blushing. Delia didn't notice that, too, and gave her son a sympathetic look. "Why don't you two sit down and then we can all start eating?" she asked them smiling. Tracey was almost giggling now and he really had to suppress his laughter. "Or does anyone need an extra pillow on his chair?" he couldn't prevent himself from asking. Misty elbowed him for that remark and Gary shot him a glare. "Don't worry, we are fine!" he stated. Then he sat down and almost jumped up again, while trying his best to make a straight face. "Is everything ok, Gary?" Delia asked concerned. She was so not getting what was going on. Gary just nodded with a deep blush on his face. Now Tracey wasn't able to restrain himself and he burst out into laughter. Misty pulled his ear for that and Delia was still wondering what the hell was going on. In the meantime, no one looked at Ash, who used the time and quickly snatched a pillow from the sofa, put it on his chair and sat down, smiling broadly, because he was able to prevent to embarrass himself like his boyfriend had before. This also earned him a glare from said boyfriend. Ash just put his hand on Gary's and smiled reassuringly at him. Gary smiled back at him, because Ash's smiles were simple irresistible.

After they had eaten, Gary and Ash decided to go for a walk through Pallet Town. As they strolled down the streets, holding hands like they always did, they noticed that they were immediately the centre of attention everywhere. The reactions of the people were divided. Some said nothing and just starred at them, others made comments. When they passed a group of three girls, they could hear them talking. "Look at those two cuties! I really can't decide who is hotter!" he first girl exclaimed. One of her friends smiled at her. "No need to decide, Lynn, they wouldn't be interested in us anyways! Look at their linked hands!" Ash smiled at them, when passing by. "Such a waste, all the hotties seem to be gay!" the last girl stated, but smiled back at Ash.

The boys continued walking and tried not to care about the looks people gave them. "Gary!" someone suddenly called from behind. They both turned around and saw two boys running towards them. They stopped in front of Ash and Gary. One had brown hair and the other was blonde. "Steven!" Gary greeted the brown haired one, "and John! I haven't seen you for years! How are you doing?" Steven smiled at Gary. When he saw that the boys were holding hand, he frowned a little, looking them up and down. "Well, nothing which compares with what you are doing… but no offence. I'm just really surprised that you and … Ash was the name, right?" Ash nodded. He remembered Steven and John. They were best friends with Gary in their first year of kindergarten. Ash started one year later, because he was almost two years younger than Gary and three than Steven and John. After Gary had met Ash in the kindergarten, they were inseparable and Gary neglected the other two a little, but they stayed friends with him. Now the boys were talking for some time, telling each other what happened during the years in which they hadn't seen each other and of course Gary and Ash had to tell them the story how their relationship changed from rivalry into being lovers. However, they left some details out which they were sure about their straight friends wouldn't want to hear.

Then John suddenly changed the topic. "Have you guys ever heard about the haunted house?" he asked them. Ash looked at him in surprise, but Gary nodded. "Yes, but when I asked my grandpa about it many years ago, he said that everything about it were just rumours, which children told each other. They sometimes even go into that house to prove that they are brave, but no one ever succeeded in spending a complete night in it. All have run away screaming after less than an hour." Ash listened closely to his boyfriend. "Why have I never heard about that? Where is that house anyways?" he asked the others. "It's in a town about 30 minutes away by bike from here. It's called Grey Town," Steven explained. "The legend says that a happily married couple once lived in that house. They only lived there for about a month, so they haven't got into much contact with the other people in the town. That's the reason why no one remembers their names. Then one day, about 17 years ago, the man died in the house, while his wife was not at home," he continued. "How did he die? Was he murdered?" Ash asked quietly. John nodded. "He was shot straight into the heart. They never found out who did it. When his wife came home, she found his dead body on the floor. She blamed herself that she wasn't at home and she thought that maybe she would have been able to save him if she had been there. As soon as the police interrogation had ended, she moved out and sold the house. She wasn't able to stay in the house where the love of her life has been murdered..." John trailed off in a low and scary voice. Gary instinctively inched a bit closer to Ash, who protectively put an arm around his boyfriend. "Don't worry, Gary! I'll protect you!" Ash exclaimed, grinning broadly. Gary shot him a glare. "I'm not scared at all! What makes you think that?" he retorted, while pulling away from Ash. 'Yeah, right...,' Ash thought, grinning to himself. He replied nothing, because he knew that Gary wanted to be considered as the always cool guy. "Short after she had moved out, a young family moved into the house, but they didn't even stay there for one night. Right after sunset, strange things started to happen. Plates flew through the room, doors opened and shot themselves. However, the scariest thing was the male voice they heard. It called after his wife and his unborn child. His wife had told him the day before he was murdered that she was pregnant. That was enough for the family to leave the house immediately. This incident has started all of the rumours about the haunted house. Some time later a couple moved in. They came from a town far away and didn't believe the rumours about ghosts. However, they also left in the first night and later they said that they had experienced similar incidents like the family before them. Since then the house has been empty. No one has been able to spend a complete night in the house and the man can't find redemption until he meets his child and is able to say goodbye to his wife," Steven finished. All stayed quiet for a moment. "This is so sad! Has no one ever tried to find the woman and her child?" Ash asked. "The police kept her name secret, because they thought she might have been also in danger and no one really admitted that they believed a ghost story like that, even though most of the citizens of Grey Town secretly did," John explained.

"Have you ever tried to stay a night in that house?" Gary asked his childhood friends, but both shocked their heads. "No, I have to admit that we have never brought up enough courage," Steve admitted. "There must be someone really brave to do that!" Ash had been listening carefully. 'That would be a really good opportunity to impress Gary!' he thought. "I'll do it!" Ash exclaimed and all gazes where suddenly on him.

…

End of Chapter 1! I hope you liked it! I'll do my best to put Chapter 2 up in a few days!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry for the late update. I was really busy working and spending time with me new boyfriend :) but I haven't forgotten about you!

Chapter 2

…

Gary looked at him wide eyed. „Are you out of your mind??" he asked. Ash just looked at him calmly. "I'm totally serious! When it comes to being brave, then it's my part!" Steven and John seemed to be impressed. Even they knew Ash well enough to know that the younger boy never just said something to be the centre of attention. He was really going to do it. "That's so cool, Ash!" Steven exclaimed and Ash smiled broadly. Gary seemed to be in thoughts, but then he suddenly spoke up. "I'll go with you, Ashy! I won't let you go there alone, regardless of the truth of the story!" Gary stated, trying his best to suppress his fear. He wasn't a coward, but spending a night in a haunted house was nothing he would have volunteered for if his Ash wasn't involved. Ash smiled at him. "Are you sure? That will be so cool!" "Let's make a bet to make things more interesting!" John suggested. "Yeah, that's a good idea! But what will be the reward for the winner?" Ash asked. John thought about it for a while. "Well, what about if you two are not able to stay in the house until sunset, Steven and I each get the latest Pokédex from Professor Oak for free?" he suggested, looking at Gary. "That's fine with me. I'm sure I could get two from Grandpa. But what happens if we succeed in spending the whole night in there?" Steven smiled. "Then Ash and you win a 5 course candlelight dinner at my father's restaurant!" The mention of food for free immediately caught Ash's interest. "That's cool. Deal!" he accepted.

The four boys decided to meet up the next day at 7.p.m and to go to Grey Town by bike. About half an hour later they were standing in front of the haunted house. It really looked deserted. Many windows were broken and the house front looked worn out. However, it must have been a pretty house once. It was located at outskirts of the town next to the woods and there was a distance of about 300 metres to the next house. 'No one is going to hear our screams then … great' Gary secretly thought to himself. "So you two are really going to do it?" John asked. Ash nodded eagerly. Gary didn't look so convinced, but he would never let his boyfriend go into this scary house all by himself. "Ok! John and I will camp here in the meadow next to the house to make sure you don't cheat," Steven explained and winked at them. "Then have a good night!" John added. "You too!" Ash replied cheerfully. He grabbed Gary's hand and they walked towards the front door of the house.

They stood there for a few seconds. "Are you really sure about this, Ashy?" Gary asked, hoping against his better knowledge that Ash would cancel it, but he wasn't that lucky. "Of course I will do it!" Ash exclaimed and Gary sighed. "Ok, then lets get in," he replied and turned the doorknob. The door made a strange scratching noise when he opened it and he wished they could just leave. 'Calm down, Gary!' he told himself when they entered the house. They were standing in a big living room now. All furniture was covered with dust. On the left side of the room were stairs which led upstairs and on the end of the room was another door. "Let's look at what's behind this door first!" Ash suggested eagerly. 'He really seems to enjoy this', Gary thought, feeling like an idiot for being scared while his younger boyfriend was not worried at all. He just nodded in reply. There were about 30 minutes left before sunset, but the house already looked scary. The room behind the living room was a big kitchen. For the fact that they didn't have anything with them which they could cook in there, is was not very interesting for them. At least Gary remembered to bring some sandwiches so they wouldn't starve during the night. "Let's look upstairs now!" Ash said while he was already walking back into the living room and towards the stairs. Gary had no other choice than to follow him. Staying here alone wasn't an option for him.

Gary walked up the stairs behind his boyfriend. "Be careful, Ashy. The stairs could break down. The material looks rotten already. "Yeah, yeah, you worry too much, Gary! There is ... ahhh!" A step broke under Ash's weight when he stepped on it. Luckily he was able to hold onto the banister and thereby prevented himself from being hurt. "Ash! Is everything ok?" Gary asked concerned from behind him. "I'm all right," he replied while pulling out his leg from the gap in the stair. "Just don't step on this stair," he added. 'One should imagine that someone, who almost fell throw a stair turned around and went back down instead of climbing up further, but oh well ... that's Ash' Gary thought to himself. They reached the end of the stairwell and were standing at the beginning of a corridor now. Spider's webs were hanging in every corner. On each side of the corridor were two doors. "So, Gary, which door do you want to try first?" Gary didn't look too eager to try any of these doors. "Well, why not start on the left-hand side?" he suggested. Ash stepped forward and slowly opened the first door on the left side. It made a terrible cracking noise in the process. Even Ash winced at it a little, much to Gary's satisfaction. Why should he be the only scared one? The room was almost dark, due to the sunset which was already in process. To their luck, Gary had thought about bringing two torches and some spare accumulators with him in his backpack. He handed one to Ash and kept the other. Ash switched his torch on and let the light flow through the room. It was a bathroom, which had blue tiles and the bathtub and the sink were white and like the rest of the house completely covered in dust. It was for the fact that no one had cleaned up in there for many years. They looked around in the room and Gary looked in the mirror. He looked at his reflection when it suddenly changed. His face turned into another. It was the face of a young man with dark hair and brown eyes and that man didn't look pleased. Gary's face turned white, for a few moments he wasn't able to move, let alone talk. 'What the fuck is going on here?? That's not my face in the mirror!!' he thought to himself in panic. Then he suddenly heard Ash's voice. "Hey Gary! Why do you always look in every mirror you see? You know you're hot, so no need to check it all the time," Ash stated. When Gary didn't react he poked his side. That broke Gary's torpidity and he turned to Ash. The fear in his eyes was clearly visible, even for Ash. "Are you all right?" he asked his boyfriend concerned. "No ... not at all! Look into the mirror!!" Gary stuttered. Ash did like he was told and looked into the mirror. "Well ... I see you and me? Or what did you expect?" he wondered. Gary had a confused look on his face now and he forced himself to look into the mirror again himself. Ash was right. All he saw was his boyfriend's concerned face and his own, still very pale face. 'I must have imagined things. Maybe Steven's and John's story about this house scared me so much that I see things which are not there,' Gary thought and forced himself to calm down. What should Ash think about him, acting like an idiot? "Yeah, you are right! Just forget what I said," he said. Ash eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure?" he asked and Gary nodded. "Why don't we go to another room now? There are still three rooms to go." Ash agreed with that and they left the bathroom.

…

End of Chapter 2! It'll continue the story as quickly as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

I finally came up with another chapter of my story. Sorry for the really long delay.

In a review I was asked which is my native language, it's German. So I hope you don't mind any grammar mistakes ;)

Chapter 3

…

They passed the corridor and entered the room on the opposite side of the bathroom. This room was completely empty. "Strange, why is no furniture in it?" Ash wondered. Gary thought about it for a few seconds. "I guess this room was reserved for their future children, it was a young and just married couple after all," Gary suggested. Ash nodded, "must be like this. Let's check out the other two rooms and then decide for a place to sleep." Gary agreed, but secretly thought 'does he really expect me to close an eye in this scary house? I will be wide awake all night for sure. Well, he can sleep everywhere…' Ash had already left the room when Gary finished his trail of thoughts. He just followed Ash in the third room, what other chance did the have anyway?

He caught up with Ash when he just had opened the door of the third room. It was a study, with a big mahogany desk in the middle and a black leather chair behind it. In the right corner stood a matching wardrobe with many drawers for the storage of documents and folders. The furniture was also covered with dust. Ash was curious like always and opened the drawers, but they were all empty. Gary just shook his head and thought, 'the young widow moved out of the house about 17 years ago after all. It's not surprising that she took all her belongings with her.' Then he heard Ash say, "I wonder why the furniture is still here." Gary replied, "I guess she didn't want to take it with her, maybe she didn't want to be reminded of the tragedy which happened here, and just sold the house together with the furniture." Ash nodded and turned to leave the room. Gary just wanted to do the same, but he gave the room a last glance.

In the middle of it he just froze. In the black leather chair sat a man with a grim look on his face, like he was silently asking what they were doing here. It was the same man which he already saw in the mirror. "Ash....," he half whispered and forced his eyes shut. "What is it now, Gary?" Ash asked and turned around to look at Gary. "That ... that man .... who is sitting at the … desk," he said, eyes still close. Ash first looked at his scared boyfriend then to the desk and back to his boyfriend. "What are you talking about? No one is here!" Ash asked a little pissed. 'I guess Gary is trying to scare me with that, but this is not working!' Gary slowly opened his eyes again. Straight ahead of him stood the desk with the black leather chair, the empty black leather chair, behind it. "That can't be! He was sitting there, staring at me angrily, just a few seconds ago!" Gary exclaimed. Ask shock his head. "You are just imaging things, Gary. There is no ghost. Just because Steven and John told us this ghost story, your mind goes crazy. Calm down," Ash told him, feeling secretly a little content about the fact that Gary was letting his fear slip through his ever so cool attitude. However, he also felt sorry for his boyfriend. 'Don't worry, Gary. If there should really be some sort of ghost here, I will do everything to protect you, I swear!" Ash said to himself, not daring to say this aloud, otherwise Gary would be angry with him, his pride hurt. In the meantime Gary brought up some courage again, feeling ashamed of his behaviour already. 'Ash must be right and if there was some ghost, why should only I see it? Get a grip on yourself, Gary!' he scold himself. "Well, let's check out the last room, right Ashy?" he said and force up his trademark smirk, put an arm around Ash's shoulders and dragged him out of the room.

There was only one room left. This time Gary opened the door and while he did that he had a strange feeling, like he should be anywhere but here, especially not be entering this room. However, he forced himself to fully open the door and enter the room. It was the bedroom. In the middle of the room, just in front of a big window, stood a large double bed. A big wardrobe covered the length of the right wall. A small carpet lay in front of the bed. The room looked nice and friendly, but Gary couldn't strike off a strange feeling. Something was different in this room. "See Gary, this room is not scary at all, right? Everything is so nice and clean!" Ash said, trying to make Gary feel a little bit more comfortable. "Just because the room looks friendlier and is not covered with dust, does not make me feel …. wait a minute … no dust???" Gary exclaimed. Even Ash's eyes now widened a bit. "Why ... is this room not covered with dust like the rest of the house? No one ... has been here for the past years..." Gary trailed off. Ash suddenly wore a smirk. "Maybe the ghost likes it clean, it's his bedroom after all!" Gary sweatdropped. "Now that was stupid," Gary exclaimed, but couldn't hide a smile. 'Ash is really able to lighten up the most terrible situations. That's just one of the reasons why I love him' Gary thought. Out loud he said, "let's leave this room?" Ash just nodded, he also wasn't too keen on staying in this room anymore. They had just turned around and wanted to leave the room when they heard a cracking noise, this kind of noise it makes when someone sits down on a bed…

End of chapter 3, I hope you like it. Now I finally got enough motivation to continue the story. So wait for the next chapter 


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